She’d been stupid to think anyone ever would justlikeher. Even her own family had thrown her the hell out of their lives as soon as they could and sabotaged her on her way out.
Tristan King hadwantedsomething from her.
She rested her forehead against the side window of the helicopter and watched a white bull’s-eye painted on the asphalt slowly come nearer as they landed. A drop of water from her still-soaked hair dripped down the plastic window.
As soon as the helicopter skids touched the tarmac, she was bounding up and away from TwistyTrader and his accomplice. She grabbed the handle of the door and yanked it, sliding the heavy door backward.
Behind her, Tristan called out with that stupid fake British accent, “Colleen? What are you doing?”
She didn’t want to jump the last few feet out of the helicopter. Her stupid, strappy, high-heeled sandals would break her ankle when she tried to land on asphalt. So, she yanked the sodden silk of her skirt away from her legs and held onto the edge of the door as she meticulously climbed out like a sloth trying to swing around a branch.
In her headphones, she heard Micah say, “What’s she doing? She’s going to—”
Colleen was climbing out and leaning toward the asphalt to get the hell out of that helicopter when her headphones hit the end of their cord and yanked her head backward like a leash.
“Dammit!”She yanked them off and threw them at the seat as she continued to feel for the ground with her toes.
Tristan tossed his headset on the seat behind him as he came after her. His mouth was moving, but the screech of the engines winding down and the battering rotors drowned out his words.
Colleen’s toes finally scraped the ground, sending a solid jolt up her leg. She ducked even though the rotor blades were far above her head, and crouching, she began to run toward the small building just past the helipad’s landing zones.
A vice gripped her arm, and her whole body flopped backward.“Hey!”
Tristan was holding onto her arm, saying, “Where are you going?”
She danced around, her wet skirt wrapping around her legs on the heliport’s warm tarmac, and yanked her arm out of his grip.“Out.”
“I would’ve helped you out of the helicopter. You could’ve hurt yourself.”
“I don’t need your help.” The ocean breeze picked up, and the wet silk clinging to Colleen’s back and legs chilled her. “I don’t need anything from you. I want that plane ticket back to Phoenix, and I want itnow.”
A flicker of shock rippled through Tristan, and he blinked. “I’m sorry about everything that happened.” He looked away, beyond the tail of the helicopter, and sighed so hard that his shoulders slumped. “Everything went wrong.”
Her heart slammed so hard that her breath shook. “I just need toget out of here.I need to go back toPhoenixwhere I’m a hell of a lot safer than hanging aroundyou.”
Especially for her heart. She was so stupid for believing him.
She kept talking. “I don’t care about your plans or whatever it is you want from me. I need to leave, and I need to leaveright the hell now.Either you buy me that plane ticket to Phoenix like you promised, or else I will march right over to the Southwest Air desk and bankrupt myself by buying the first available plane ticket on my credit card. But however this is going down, I’m done. I’m out.And I’m leaving right now.”
“Don’t.” Tristan scowled at the cityscape of Los Angeles in the distance, and then he gestured at the looming aircraft hangar behind him. “You take the plane. It’ll take you back to Phoenix, and I can transfer your pay for the week in just a minute from my phone.”
That wasn’t what she’d meant. “So where are you going to go?”
Tristan was scowling and staring at the ground. “I’ll stay here.”
“No way!” she yelled at him.
4
Micah
Tristan
“You can’t!” Colleen yelled at Tristan. He could barely hear her feminine voice above the helicopter engines, even though the pitch of their whine was falling as they wound down. She kept yelling at him, “Those mafia bastards are after you!”
Jesus,he gave up. He lifted his hands. “I can draw them away from you. I’ll give them whatever they want so they’ll have no reason to come after you.”
“Tristan, that isn’t what Imeant.You shouldn’t do that. Giving crime lords what they want isneverthe best option.”
